Franco American Programs

Welcome! Bienvenue!

Vision Statement:

We seek to make Franco American Programs at the University of Maine into an international center for Franco American scholarly research and community engagement. The Franco American Program responds to an unmet need: it researches, teaches, and serves the French cultures of the Northeast. This need is felt locally, nationally, and internationally. The University of Maine is singularly capable of responding to this need and providing national and international leadership. The University’s land grant mission to serve the people of Maine and its large Franco American population, its location close to Canada, and its role as the state’s flagship campus present a unique opportunity to build upon our strengths and create a national and international profile.

Mission Statement:

Franco American communities constitute a large percentage of the population of Maine and the Northeast region. It is the mission of the Franco American Program to serve these communities while recognizing that cultural patterns do not stop at national borders. The Franco American Program includes the Franco American Centre as well as Franco American Studies.

The primary goal of the Franco-American Centre is to support and enhance the Franco American communities of Maine. The Centre looks to disseminate the richness of Franco history, language, and culture, as well as to bridge Franco Americans both to the University campus and to other peoples of the region.

The primary goal of Franco American Studies is to broaden the canon of knowledge on Franco American peoples, culture, and literature. It encourages and facilitates interdisciplinary research, faculty engagement, and student exploration.

Why Franco American Programs at the University of Maine:

Though a substantial presence, the “French fact” of New England is often overlooked and unheard. The term Franco-American refers specifically to people of Quebecois and Acadian heritage living in the United States. Composed of rural francophone settlements in northern Maine that date back to the eighteenth century and communities of French Canadians who started immigrating to industrial New England towns in the late nineteenth century, Franco-Americans constitute the largest concentration of French speakers in the United States, accounting for 11% to 28% of New England state populations. French is the most common language after English in three New England states (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont) and Franco Americans are the largest ethnic group.

The University of Maine in recent years has come to recognize the importance of this population and has taken the lead in supporting and studying Franco America. These efforts began over thirty years ago with the establishment of the Franco-American Centre/Centre Franco-Américain. The primary goal of the Franco-American Centre is to support and enhance the Franco American communities of Maine. The Centre is a vital connection between the French communities of New England and Canada. It has published since 1972 a quarterly, bi-lingual newspaper, “Le Forum” that links communities and cultivates awareness. It has helped change the political, social, and cultural landscape in Maine by disseminating the richness of Franco history, bilingualism, and culture, as well as by bridging borders that have separated Franco Americans both from the University campus and from other peoples of the region. It maintains an archive of historic documents and oral histories, provides community outreach, and promotes new pedagogies in Maine schools and economic development throughout our region.

The Franco-American Centre also initiated an academic program specializing in the study of this population. The Franco American Studies program seeks to expand and develop research on the French cultures of the United States and to teach their history, literature, and language. It focuses on the Franco American cultures of Maine but its scope embraces the French-speaking world and operates within the context of American ethnicity. The Franco American Studies Program at The University of Maine is a collaboration of researchers and teachers. It is designed to assist researchers, educate students, and to extend this work to the broader community. It teaches courses, offers a Franco American Studies minor and mentors faculty and graduate students. In addition, it seeks to extend the reach of its teaching and research beyond the University. The program organizes conferences, film series, public lectures, workshops, and reading groups that allow students, faculty, and community members to expand their knowledge of Franco American history, culture, and literature. Over the years these Franco American programs have helped Maine rethink cultural realities that have been erased in the past by the state’s educational and cultural institutions, enabling the University to fulfill its mission as a land-grant institution for all the people of Maine.

Until June 2011, the Franco-American Centre and Franco-American Studies program were housed in different locations and were reporting to two different deans. The units operated independently, coming together on an ad-hoc basis to collaborate on projects. In June 2011, two events prompted Dean Hecker to request a reappraisal of the two programs: the Franco-American Centre was moved administratively into the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences where Franco American Studies also resides; and Yvon Labbé entered into partial-phased retirement with a retirement date of August 2014. In September 2011, Dean Hecker charged Yvon Labbé and Susan Pinette to establish the long-term goals and objectives of the Franco American Programs at the University of Maine. They along with the staff of the Franco-American Centre (Lisa Michaud, Jacob Albert, Tony Brinkley) worked with an outside facilitator over the course of the academic year to establish these goals and objectives. Together, the group decided that a single, administrative structure would support the two programs best and worked to devise the above Mission and Vision statements.

Five year plan (2018-2023):

Goal 1: Strengthen Franco American Studies. We seek to increase opportunities for students to learn about Franco Americans and look to advocate for the teaching about Franco Americas.

Benchmarks: Year One→ Increase the visibility of the Franco American Studies minor by developing materials about the programYear Three→ Develop on-line offerings→ Develop tools for K-12 teachersYear Five→ Add masters program→ Add two joint faculty positions and a graduate assistantship

Goal 2: Increase Opportunities for Research. We want to increase our support of those engaging the Franco American community.

Benchmarks: Year One→ Development of a peer-reviewed journal for Franco-American artists and writers→ Make the ad-hoc gathering of Franco artists a yearly eventYear Three→ Development of archival space in the Franco American Centre, specific to the work of the Centre→ Broaden the yearly gathering of Franco artists to include the two other arms of the Franco American Program: research and community activistsYear Five→ Development of monograph series and peer-reviewed academic journal

Goal 3: Broaden Community Engagement. We aim to expand the visibility and reach of the Franco American Centre’s community engagement.

Benchmarks: Year One→ Develop social networking tools for Franco Centre and expand network of contacts→ Include within “Le Forum” academic and research contributionsYear Three→ Index Oral History Archives and create teaching guides for useYear Five→ Have paid regional editors from different Franco American communities

Goal 4: Creation of Residencies. We look to create a residency program that would broaden the national and international profile of the Franco American Program and increase research and creative productivity.

Benchmarks: Year One→ Have at least two short-term residencies at the Franco American Centre to complement the Franco American program’s work and make use of the resourcesYear Three→ Have at least one visiting residence recruited in areas where there is little expertiseYear Five→ Establish long-term funding for several residencies and adequate support for interns and graduate students

Goal 5: Creation of an Endowment. We will create an endowment that will support the three arms of the Franco American Program.

Benchmarks: Year One→ Creation of fundraising planYear Five→ One million endowment to support the operations of the Franco American Program→ A new, named Franco American Centre, modeled after the Foster Student Innovation Center

Goal 6: Determine the viability of political and economic directions. We explore over the next five years the viability of our current political and economic directions and if viable, determine how they fit into our work.